The organization that provided referees for the Adidas Uprising Summer Championships in Las Vegas is "ending its relationship" with the shoe company because of the way Adidas "allowed LaVar Ball to remove a female official from a game," according to Gary Parrish of CBSSPORTS.com. Court Club Elite in a statement said, "Adidas and their leadership acted in a manner that does not parallel our views on integrity or professionalism" (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/30). Previously, Court Club Elite Founder Ed Rush said that Adidas employees did "not explicitly instruct referees" working the AAU event to "refrain from issuing technical fouls" to Ball. CBSSPORTS.com's Matt Norlander noted Adidas officials "declined comment." ESPN on Friday reported that Adidas reps "expressed" the sentiment to Rush and his colleagues. Rush: "No, Absolutely not true. You can quote me" (CBSSPORTS.com, 7/29). ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf cited a source as saying that Adidas officials had "pressured referees" to "avoid calling technical fouls against LaVar Ball because of his drawing power and their potential courtship" of Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball. The source said event officals were told to "put three officials on the game who will keep him in the building" whenever LaVar's Big Baller Brand team played. Ball was "given a technical by the referee working Friday's game and, after Ball threatened to pull his team off the court ... she was removed from the game." Adidas representatives said that it was "their decision to replace the referee" (ESPN.com, 7/28).
